Abstract
There are presently two states which have legalized physician-assisted suicide by enacting death with dignity statutes: Oregon and Washington. In late 2009, the Montana Supreme Court essentially legalized physician-assisted death by stating that there was no state law to suggest that it was against public policy. Under the presently-enacted death with dignity statutes of Oregon and Washington, a person who suffers from a physically incapacitating ailment cannot be assisted by her physician in suicide because she is unable to ingest the lethal prescription herself. Additionally, the laws of Oregon and Washington each restrict physician-assisted suicide to patients who are terminally ill, thus effectively preventing those who are expected to live longer than six months, but who are suffering tremendously, from dying with dignity.
This Comment argues that if the purpose of physician-assisted suicide laws is to permit patients to die with dignity, the Oregon and Washington laws essentially prevent those who are suffering the most from doing just that. As more states consider the legalization of physician-assisted suicide, this Comment urges states to evaluate the Oregon and Washington statutes, and expand physician-assisted suicide laws to include patients who are physically incapable of ingesting the lethal medication, yet are mentally aware, and patients who are suffering from terminal ailments but are not expected to die within six months of being diagnosed.
Recommended Citation
Cyndi Bollman,
A Dignified Death? Don’t Forget About the Physically Disabled and Those Not Terminally Ill: An Analysis of Physician-Assisted Suicide Laws,
34
S. Ill. U. L.J.
395
(2010).
Available at:
https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/siulj/vol34/iss2/7